News Updates

2/28/17 – With President Donald Trump declaring his intention to renegotiate with Mexico the North American Free Trade Agreement, it may be worth revisiting an Issues article in which an experienced policy analyst laid out the benefits that NAFTA has brought to the United States. And a panel of international political, business, and academic leaders recently supported this case, adding that taking too hard a line at the bargaining table could well work against US interests.

2/16/17 – At a recent news conference, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others once again expressed concern that childhood vaccines may actually make some kids sick or cause autism—and that journalists and the government have been colluding to cover up the truth about vaccine safety. In Issues, a journalist who has covered such claims recounts what can happen when you report evidence of science distortion that upsets activists, noting that “with respect to some topics, the more you report facts, the less they seem to matter.”

2/15/17 – India just set a world record (here and here) by placing 104 satellites into orbit using a single rocket, with the payload including 101 “nanosatellites” built by companies and universities in six other countries. The achievement reflects the emerging pattern in the global space enterprise, described recently in Issues, as a growing roster of nongovernment groups from more and more countries reach into space using ever-smaller satellites to perform an expanding array of jobs.

2/14/17 – Turning a pragmatic face to the world, China is pressing a major initiative to attract semiconductor manufacturers and research facilities—and the plan seems to be working. In a more philosophical look at such matters, a scholar at a leading Chinese university recently examined in Issues his nation’s emergence as a technocracy “run by people who are in power because of their technical expertise.”

2/10/17 – President Donald Trump’s advisory team recently released a preliminary list of projects that might be funded as part of a promised plan to revitalize roads, bridges, ports, and various other components of the nation’s infrastructure. In Issues, two scholars who have studied the history of infrastructure development have proposed a set of principles for success, arguing that efforts should facilitate citizen input, define success in publicly accountable ways beyond cost and schedule, and monitor providers to ensure that they deliver services in an equitable manner.

2/9/17 – Among engineering and technology companies started in the United States between 1995 and 2005, a quarter were headed by immigrants, and immigrants founded roughly a third of firms in the semiconductor sector, according to a survey led by a technology entrepreneur and described in Issues. Now underscoring immigrants’ innovative impact, new research reveals that industries and regions with more foreign-born inventors produce more patents and that this bump spurs economic growth.

2/9/17 – A group of conservative policy and business leaders has released what it calls a “pro-growth, pro-competitiveness and pro-working class” action plan for addressing human-caused climate change (here and here). The plan reflects some of the concerns expressed in Issues by a conservative scholar who argued that all climate policies “must be compatible with individual liberty and democratic institutions,” but it also presses beyond what some conservative stalwarts might favor.

2/8/17 – Arguments are heating up over the need for, or proper balance of, visas for US-bound immigrants, including those with high-level technical skills. President Donald Trump reportedly is planning drastic cuts, whereas many corporate leaders argue otherwise. In a pragmatic earlier look this situation, a leading policy analyst proposed in Issues a comprehensive plan to reform the immigration system in a way that meets US needs for scientists and engineers while remaining fair for native-born students and workers.

2/3/17 – Students in the United States are offered few routes to middle-skill careers built around jobs that require some education beyond high school but typically not a bachelor’s degree. Issues has examined this gap in a series of articles on the importance and scope of such jobs; the skills and training they require, with particular focus on the rapidly expanding health care fields; and the need for better information to help workers, employers, educators, and government policy makers capitalize on emerging opportunities.

2/3/17 – The White House recently announced the launch of a Manufacturing Jobs Initiative (here and here) to bring together business and labor leaders to offer insights into revitalizing the US manufacturing sector. Issues has already been on the job, detailing how to boost manufacturing strength by improving the nation’s innovation system and by expanding efforts to make small- and medium-sized firms more competitive.

2/1/17 – India may be thinking more ambitiously than ever about solar energy, according to an account from the Worldwatch Institute, with proposed measures including rapid expansion of small-scale photovoltaic panels and solar lighting systems. But even as the promise is bright, an analyst who spent a year exploring firsthand India’s solar energy ecosystem has detailed in Issues an array of policy and financial steps that will be required for success.

1/31/17 – In today’s complex world, communicating science-related information to the public is more important than ever—and also more complicated. In Issues, an experienced communication hand has proposed ways to improve the process. Now a science establishment heavyweight has, well, weighed in with a new report (here and here) that examines what research says about the needs and challenges of communicating science and recommends evidence-based ways to do so more effectively.